Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the provision of reciprocal free healthcare within Europe and England.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
There is currently wide-ranging advice and guidance on reciprocal healthcare arrangements across GOV.UK, the National Health Service website and the NHS Business Services Authority website. The Department also works closely with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office across Europe to promote people’s reciprocal healthcare entitlements, which includes country-specific guides.
We use a variety of communications activities including videos, blogs and social media messaging to reach different groups. The Department also works with travel companies and relevant media outlets to include reciprocal healthcare information.
To further promote the benefits of the Global Health Insurance Card, which is the eligibility document for accessing necessary healthcare when United Kingdom residents visit eligible countries, we are in the process of reviewing all Government content to make clearer the benefits of reciprocal healthcare arrangements to the public and ensure people can easily access information on the support available in-country should they require necessary healthcare.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of delays in Royal Mail deliveries on the delivery of medicines.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
Ofcom is currently investigating whether Royal Mail failed to meet its quality-of-service performance targets for 2022-23.
Royal Mail delivers medicines on behalf of a number of organisations, including the NHS. However, the Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s contractual arrangements with its customers, including delivery of medication and the delivery services used.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to address delays to postal deliveries by Royal Mail.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail’s service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification.
Ofcom is currently investigating whether Royal Mail failed to meet its quality-of-service performance targets for 2022-23.
Royal Mail delivers medicines on behalf of a number of organisations, including the NHS. However, the Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s contractual arrangements with its customers, including delivery of medication and the delivery services used.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the state of preparedness to deal with bush fires in hot weather.
Answered by Lord Sharpe of Epsom - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Home Office works closely with other departments and key stakeholders including Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities to mitigate the risk of wildfire as set out in the Wildfire Framework for England. The framework can be found at Wildfire Framework for England | Fire England.
Each Fire and Rescue Authority is required to plan for the foreseeable risks in their area, through their Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP), having regard to other key local responders, the top local and national risks, and the communities which they serve.
The government recognises the risk that wildfire presents for landscapes and communities and recently wrote to Local Resilience Forums to share lessons and recommendations from the recent 2022 wildfire season. Further actions are set out in the third National Adaptation Plan, which was recently published: Third National Adaptation Programme (NAP3) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
The Home Office maintains regular engagement with National Bodies including the National Fire Chiefs Council and England and Wales Wildfire Forum to monitor and review sector led improvements to wildfire response and mitigation.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of available compensation measures for Royal Mail customers who have experienced problems receiving deliveries; and what plans they have to publicise those compensation measures to members of the public.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Royal Mail is a private business. The Government does not have a role in the commercial or operational decisions of Royal Mail.
As the Universal Service Provider, Ofcom requires Royal Mail to provide fair and reasonable remedies and redress in respect of delays to deliveries under its universal service obligation.
Under Section 89 of the Postal Services Act 2000, Royal Mail is required to publish its terms and conditions, including compensation policies, for certain products and services on its website.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the performance of Royal Mail, and its failure to deliver mail in some areas.
Answered by Earl of Minto - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
It is for Ofcom, as the independent regulator of postal services, to set and monitor Royal Mail's service standards and decide how to use its powers to investigate and take enforcement action should Royal Mail fail to achieve its obligations without good justification. Ofcom is currently undertaking an investigation into Royal Mail's failure to meet its quality of service performance targets for 2022-23.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what are the reasons for initiating consultations on the closure of ticket offices in railway stations.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
Together with industry, we want to improve and modernise the experience for passengers by moving staff out from behind the ticket office screens to provide more help and advice in customer focused roles and additional support to those who need it.
When proposing major changes to ticket office opening hours – including closures – train operators are required to take into account the adequacy of the proposed alternatives in relation to the needs of passengers who are disabled; and to include this in the notice of the proposal sent to other operators and passenger groups. We would also expect operators to consider other equality related needs and make this clear in the notice sent to other operators and passenger groups.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Murray of Blidworth on 10 July (HL8747), how many claims are yet to be settled under the Windrush Compensation Scheme; and when they expect those claims to be settled.
Answered by Lord Murray of Blidworth
The latest Transparency data for the Windrush Compensation Scheme was published on 21 June 2023, which covers the period up to the end of May 2023.
We understand ‘yet to be settled’ to mean claims which have not received a final decision and are in the ‘Work in Progress’ category.
The requested information, regarding how many claims are in the ‘Work in Progress’ (WIP) category can be found on Tab WCS_05 of Windrush Compensation Scheme data: May 2023 - GOV.UK
The Transparency data note 12 defines WIP as “WIP defined as claims at Registration, Eligibility, Preliminary Payment Consideration, Casework and QA stages, excluding any claim that has received a final offer at Payment, and any claim at Tier 1 and Tier 2.”
The department does not impose time limit targets for concluding claims, as each person’s claim is deeply personal and deserves to be processed with the utmost care and sensitivity. This holistic approach necessarily takes time but is ultimately beneficial to individuals.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:
To ask His Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the mental well-being of those affected by the Grenfell Tower fire.
Answered by Baroness Scott of Bybrook - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities)
This Government remains fully committed to supporting the Grenfell community and working with them to build a lasting legacy in North Kensington. This must include ensuring that the physical, and mental health support they need is available for the long term.
Since 2017, the Government has committed over £158 million, including delivering a bespoke Grenfell Health and Wellbeing offer in partnership with NHS England and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council.
The Secretary of State and I continue to work closely with the NHS, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and other parts of the government on future services, to ensure there is effective long-term physical and mental health support for the community, including for children and young people.
NHS England is developing further proposals, following its initial commitment of £50 million to fund Grenfell Health services to 2024. RBKC has committed to providing additional resources for the next phase of its recovery programme for 2024-2028. Both programmes will be developed in partnership with the community to ensure services are reflective of the evolving needs of all those affected.
The Secretary of State and I will also continue to meet with the bereaved, survivors and residents of North Kensington to hear from them directly, and to ensure that my department continues to play a leading role in making sure that the right support is available to meet the community's needs.
Asked by: Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to improve the (1) pay, (2) conditions, and (3) recognition, for those working in the social care sector.
Answered by Lord Markham - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)
Our workforce reforms, which will invest £250 million over the next two years, will provide the workforce with more support to develop within their careers.
Most care workers are employed by private sector providers who set their pay and terms and conditions, independent of central Government. Local authorities work with care providers to determine fee rates, which should take account of wage costs, based on local market conditions.
The Government has made available up to £7.5 billion in additional funding over two years to support adult social care and discharge. This historic funding boost will put the adult social care system on a stronger financial footing and help Local Authorities address waiting lists, low fee rates and workforce pressures in the sector.